(Adds GE's comments)

By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Andres Gonzalez

CHICAGO/LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - General Electric Co on Tuesday confirmed it has hired Mavi Zingoni to head up the company's power unit, which comprises its gas, steam and nuclear power businesses.

Zingoni, who served as executive managing director of client and low carbon generation business at Spanish energy group Repsol, will report to Scott Strazik, who heads GE's portfolio of energy businesses.

She will take over on Jan. 1 and will be based in the United States, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters, which first reported the appointment earlier Tuesday.

Zingoni joins at a time when the industrial conglomerate is preparing to split into three public companies.

GE plans to separate its healthcare business in January next year. It will spin off its energy business in 2024 into a stand-alone company, known as GE Vernova, which would combine power, renewable energy and digital units.

"Her deep industry experience will play an important role in our future as we continue to work alongside our customers to accelerate the energy transition and work towards the planned spin off GE Vernova," a GE spokesperson said.

Zingoni faces the challenge of navigating GE's power business through persistent supply chain and inflationary pressures.

The power business, which accounted for about 23% of company revenue last year, is one of the company's most challenging businesses. It has not reported a revenue growth in years.

In the first half of this year, the unit also saw a drop in orders. However, the company expects it to report a profit this year with low single-digit revenue growth. (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago and Andres Gonzalez in London; editing by Richard Pullin)